NEWPORT NEWS — Stacks of the student newspaper were yanked from the racks at Christopher Newport University last week at the behest of the administration, according to its editor.

The front-page headline was about a suspected meth lab on campus, and it landed on stands Wednesday as prospective students and their parents toured campus, said Emily Cole.

Newspapers were removed that day from racks at tour hot-spots including the student union, the administration building, the Freeman Center and McMurran Hall, Cole said.

The front-page story detailed the March 30 meth lab bust in Wilson Hall that resulted in a building evacuation and two students being banned from campus.

Cole said the papers were distributed at about 9 a.m. and gone by noon.

She confronted a University Fellow seen carrying away stacks of the newspaper, and said he claimed the administration ordered him to hide the newspapers until campus tours ended.

CNU hosted admissions events at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesday that included walking tours of campus, according to spokeswoman Lori Jacobs. About 300 attended, she said.

Cole said the fellow didn't specify who gave him the directive to remove the papers. Fellows are recent graduates hired to work in departments including admissions and student engagement.

Dean of Students Kevin Hughes blamed the incident Monday on a "junior staff member" who had "taken it upon him/herself" to hide the papers.

Hughes said he texted with Cole throughout Sunday as he investigated, and told her the issue would be formally addressed with the staff member and that he'll make sure the incident isn't repeated.

Cole said the dean of admissions denied issuing the order when she asked him about it Wednesday, but that he said he'd make sure the papers were returned.

Within minutes, admissions staffers carried about 400 copies of the newspaper out of the student union's welcome center. Cole said she took the stacks and personally returned them to stands.

The Captain's Log prints 2,000 copies of each issue and distributes them to about a dozen stands in academic buildings, dorms and common areas.

On Sunday, Cole emailed President Paul Trible about the incident, calling it "unethical, illegal and offensive" for the administration to hide newspapers in an attempt to cover up campus crime.

She noted that news of the meth lab had already been widely reported, including in the Daily Press, before The Captain's Log was published Wednesday.

Campus was also teeming with visitors the night CNU sent a school-wide alert about the meth lab investigation.

The university hosted 50 admitted freshmen overnight, a dinner for 70 honors students and their parents, and 600-800 attendees at the University of Virginia's football practice at Pomoco Stadium, Jacobs said.

That Saturday, about 750 students and their parents attended Admitted Freshman Day.

CNU did not alert attendees at weekend events because the suspected meth lab was no longer a danger to the public, she said.

In her email to Trible, Cole says that trying to cover up the crime from prospective students hurts CNU's reputation more than acknowledging the meth bust does.

She requested that any administrators involved in the incident be disciplined.

Cole said she did not file a theft report. The Captain's Log is free, but a handful of states consider it a crime when bulk copies of newspapers are stolen or destroyed.

Frank LoMonte, director of the Arlington-based Student Press Law Center, said Trible should issue an "authoritative condemnation" of the incident.

"If an employee is walking around thinking they did a good deed for the college, they need to be corrected," he said.

"Messing with the newspaper in any way is considered an attack on the First Amendment and is not acceptable at an institution of higher learning."

This is the second time this school year that issues of CNU's newspaper have gone missing.

In October, a student threw away stacks of The Captain's Log because she was unhappy with a story about a police officer she knew who was charged with fraud and forgery.